I would like some feedback on the use of CCleaner’s registry cleaner. In my opinion, this is a dangerous tool and should either be removed from the application or significant improvement need to be made.
The reason for this post is because I used registry cleaner on my new computer after getting everything setup. Yes, I made backups and reviewed most of the issues listed. Nothing stood out as casing a problem if removed.
Six weeks later, I am still finding missing Registry Keys that were critical for certain applications. Apparently, not only did the cleaner remove un-used keys, but even those that were valid for installed applications. I have had to re-install four applications and today I have spent 2 hours trying to fix a video issue. Three major keys are missing.
Everything has pointed back to issues caused by using the registry cleaner and by the time I first realized that it was to late to restore from backup.
We recommend that you don’t regularly use the Registry Cleaner with Windows 10 or 11, only use it if you have a specific problem.
The Registry Cleaner is meant as a tool for fixing things if there is a problem, it is not meant for regular use.
Using any registry cleaner will not speed up your machine in any way, and only saves a few KB of disc space.
Using a registry cleaner on a healthy machine can even ‘break’ it.
Windows 10/11 changes the registry too often to make using any registry cleaner totally safe.
Running any Registry Cleaner regularly can, and does, lead to problems.
For the official Piriform advice on using the CCleaner Registry Cleaner see this:
Here is Microsofts’ advice on using any Registry Cleaner:
PS. We moderators have spent years persuading CCleaner to move the Registry Cleaner into the ‘Tools’ menu so that unwary users were less likely to break their registry using it blindly.
We had just succeded and it was moved earlier this year.
Imagine our feelings when along comes CCleaner 7 sticking an even more agressive Reg Cleaner right under unwary peoples noses again - I for one am now expecting many more posts like your own.
Thank you for your response. Although I’d like to hear from some of the 17 people who looked at this, your response backs up my concerns. At this time, especially given what you found, I would say that ccCleaner is misleading people into thinking registry cleaning is part of routine maintenance.
Let me point out that my goal in using the registry cleaner was not to obtain space or speed. I am a network engineer and understand what the registry is. When I setup my new computer I moved my user folders, and public, to the D: drive. I am also aware that when you install applications, there are temporary links and orphaned links left behind. What I was looking to remove were items like items that pointed to C:\users\??? and applications that refereed to temporary items. I thought I was very careful in what I was doing, including making a backup.
I would have hoped that ccleaner would have done a better job of knowing a valid key as to one that is not needed. It was the extent of the damage that I have, and that it is too late to use my backup, that caused me to post this.
It seems to me the responsible thing to do is remove registry cleaning completely.
My thoughts on registry cleaning is that if you have a disk image which you can use if things go wrong then risk it, if not then don’t use it. A third party uninstaller app will allow users to remove leftovers from the PC & registry after cleaning & doesn’t touch anything not connected to the uninstalled program. I still create a disk image every day though.